Leftover Idea: Turkey Nachos

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Andrea

Everyone else is starting to post holiday cookie recipes and I’m over here still talking turkey.

This is my last leftover post and then you are free to put Thanksgiving behind you. Or if you’re like us, you’ve got leftovers in the freezer and might be pulling them out soon to make this.

It was two days after Thanksgiving and I wanted to use up a little bit more turkey before it was wrapped up and placed in the freezer. I thought of making sandwichs and I knew soup was right out.

I wanted something fun and a little different. Plus it was a game night and game foods started running through my head.

I finally settled on nachos!

Turkey nachos, easy, different, and fun to eat.

Andrea’s Turkey Nachos

Leftover Turkey, cubed or shredded

1/2 Red Onion, chopped

1 Green Pepper, chopped

1 Carrot, shredded

1 Can Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed

1C Frozen Corn

Bourbon Brined Turkey

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Andrea

Beer brined, cider brined, and I’ve used wine in a brine. This year I decided to just throw caution to the wind and bust out the big guns.

Bourbon.

For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to go with a Southern inspired meal. Mashed potatoes and stuffing were standard but I made collards for a side dish and wanted to make my turkey have a bit of a Southern flair to it.

I went back and forth on what to use in the brine. Finally it occurred to me that bourbon would probably be really tasty when used in a brine. It’s sweet, smooth, and it’s made in the south.

I put the brine together the day before Thanksgiving and it smelled amazing! And a little boozy. Happy Holidays!

Andrea’s Bourbon Brined Turkey

1, 12-14lb Turkey

Brine Foundation:

2/3C Bourbon, I used Knob Creek

3 1/2C Chicken Stock

4C Hot or Boiling Water

1C Kosher Salt

1/2C Brown Sugar, Packed

Additional Seasonings and Ingredients:

Brining A Whole Turkey

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Andrea

If there’s one thing I hope you know about me, it’s going to have to be my ~~obsession~~ love for brining pork and poultry. Each year I talk with you and stress the importance of brining your turkey for the big Thanksgiving meal.

Yet I realized that I haven’t really talked with you about the equipment you’ll need or how to go about brining a whole turkey.

Because even a “small”, 12-14lb turkey is still a big thing to brine.

Do you need special equipment?

Yes.

Is it expensive and can only be purchased at a speciality cooking store?

No.

All you need is a hardware store and you’re good. No really, I’m serious.

You need a bucket, a large one. You can purchase a large bucket at your local Home Improvement store for super cheap.

In that picture is a 5 Gallon bucket.

When brining a whole turkey, you need to have a bucket or pot large enough that the whole turkey will easily be able to be submerged in brining liquids. No part of the turkey should be out of the liquid and exposed to air.

Thanksgiving 2011

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Andrea

Thanksgiving 2011 was a huge success this year! There was a lot of experimenting going on and I have to say that everything turned out perfectly.

The day started off with a 2.5 mile run for me while Scotty slept. I tried waking him up but he kind of mumbled, rolled over and went back to sleep. I was on my own. The body was a little stiff and sore from all the prep work earlier this week (mostly my back was super achey) so I just did a short run.

Back home to some fantastic coffee and a date and fig coffee cake. My favorite coffee cake and made with beer! Whoo!

Once Scott got up, I pulled the turkey out of the brine and let it rest on the counter for a bit before setting it in the oven to get roasty and delicious. I kept the menu simple this year, making a few key items, but experimented along the way.

Thanksgiving Countdown

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Andrea

It’s Thanksgiving week! We’re getting down to the wire and now is when all the big prep starts to take place. Today is my last “free” day, starting tomorrow I’ll be cooking each day all the way until Thanksgiving day.

After that I’m not cooking again until at least Saturday!

Maybe. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

This year I’m making my own stock. I use a lot of chicken stock here at the HQ, however we do not eat enough meat for us to keep ourselves supplied with our own stock. I’ve been saving up bones in my freezer so that I would eventually have enough to make stock.

I finally have enough! Whoo!

Here’s a run down of how I’m spending the week:

Monday:

Work
School work

Tuesday:

Pick up turkey
Make stock
Chop veggies
Get wine in fridge
Prep dinner for today and Wednesday
Make rolls

Wednesday:

Make cranberry sauce

Weekend Grilling Recipes

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Andrea

Are you grilling this weekend? Looking for something a little different to the standard hot dogs and burgers? Want to shake up the summer grilling season for 2011?

Let Food Embrace help! Here’s a few recipes that you can try out this grilling season:

Chardonnay Chicken Burgers

Cranapple Turkey Burgers

Grilling steaks? Try giving those babies a little rub down.

Rather have pork? Beer Brined Pork Chops can be grilled.

Get funky with some chicken, yogurt curry chicken or cocoa-chili rubbed chicken will do the trick nicely.

Then you can wash it down with some super special iced tea.

Have fun this summer and get your grill on!

Talking Thanksgiving with Chef Michael Chiarello

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Andrea

OHC is in full Thanksgiving mode! It is next week but there’s still plenty of time to talk side dishes, wine, and turkey. Recently I had the great opportunity to submit a few Thanksgiving questions to Chef Michael Chiarello and I have to tell you that I was excited beyond words.

Chef Chiarello was (and still is) by far my favorite Chef that was on the Food Network. I love his show because he proved how easy it is to get in the kitchen to cook something and also how that simple food can be elegant and sophisticated. He threw amazing dinner parties that were simple to put together leaving the guests satisfied and the host with time to chat and enjoy themselves.

I asked him three questions and here he is presenting his answers.

I hope you enjoyed it!

A huge thank you to Chef Chiarello for taking the time to answer this food blogger’s questions. And another big thank you to Jackie for setting all of this up!

OHC’s Approach to Thanksgiving

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Andrea

Thanksgiving Dinner

OHC loves Thanksgiving! It means that I can spend all week cooking and Scott can spend all weekend eating good food. I realize that spending a week cooking can be most people’s worst nightmare but when you love cooking as much as I do, then Thanksgiving is a dream come true.

The reason I spend all week cooking is because I plan out Thanksgiving.

If you know anything about me, then you know I love Google web-products. GCal and Google Docs have saved my life time and time again. Google can be your best friend during the holidays.

With GCal I plan out the week before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving week. Then I print this out and stick it to my fridge so I have in front of me and can stay on task.

The week before I plan out my grocery list. I have my menu in front of me and I write down every ingredient I need for that recipe. Off of that I make a master list of things I’ll need from the grocery store. Then I do a walk-through, looking over each of my fridges (I have two) and my pantry to see what I already have on hand.

Get Your Turkey 2010

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Andrea

For those of us in the US, it’s that time of year again, Thanksgiving!

You all know I am a big advocate of local foods! This means turkeys too! Support your local farmers and purchase a turkey that not only do you know where it was raised but you know how it was raised and treated.

This year I’m putting together a list of places I know of that you can purchase locally raised turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.

Poultry and Game at North Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys.

We’ve gotten our turkeys here now for the past five years. They’ve always been excellent, decently priced, and great tasting turkeys. They do turkeys of all sizes and also just breasts if you are feeding a small crowd.

Hills Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys along with Tea Hill Organic Farm turkeys.

One of my twitter friends just told me that The Anderson’s is also doing free-range veggie fed Turkeys this year.

Leftover Idea: Stuffing Frittata

Posted on November 30, 2008 by Andrea

The cast

Still plowing your way through leftovers? This is one of my very favorite leftover recipes. I look forward to this all year long! I started doing this a few years back with leftover stuffing and have made it every year since. It’s so easy and so yummy! Perfect if you are hosting guests at your house and they are threatening bodily harm if you feed them another leftover. Disguise it!

Andrea’s Stuffing Frittata

1 C overloaded with stuffing

1 C of leftover chopped turkey

4 eggs

1 TBSP of olive oil

Shredded Cheddar for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sized skillet, drizzle in the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Then add in the turkey and stuffing. Whisk the four eggs and pour that mixture over the turkey and stuffing. Making sure the egg mixture covers the whole thing. Turn off heat and plop in the oven for about 5 minutes until just slightly shy of being set. Turn off oven and remove frittata. Sprinkle top with as much shredded cheddar as you like. Put back in the oven for about 3 minutes until the cheese is melted and frittata is fully set.